Sunday, May 7, 2023

Milwaukee Police Shut Down S. César E. Chávez Drive On Saturday At 7:30 p.m. To Avoid Another Lawlessness 5 de Mayo Impromptu Flag Waving Parade Affecting Businesses Along The Corridor

Milwaukee police shutdown the S. Chávez Drive Business BID 38 from W. Greenfield Ave. to W. National Ave. without advising any businesses along Chávez Drive before they closed the street to traffic. Thousands of vehicles travel through the S. Chávez Drive per day, and shutting down the street causes an economic loss for all the businesses along S. Chávez Drive.

By H. Nelson Goodson 
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - On Saturday, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) decided to shutdown the S. César E. Chávez Dr. business corridor between W. Greenfield Ave. to W. National Ave. along the Chávez Drive at around 7:30 p.m. without any previous notice to local businesses at the Chávez business bid. Most of the businesses along S. Chávez Drive were unexpectedly forced to close without any prior notice by the MPD or Milwaukee Police District 2 Station.

The local businesses including taco food trucks along S. Chávez Drive faced a combined loss of 10's of thousands of dollars of generated sales income  during the premature traffic closure decision by the MPD. It's unclear when MPD reopened S. Chávez Drive on Saturday night.

The MPD decision to close S. Chávez Drive on Saturday was a huge mistake to undertake after multiple police officers and supervisors from Police District 2 Station failed to take control early of the chaotic and lawlessness activity by those hundreds of impromptu flag waving revelers on Friday, 5 de Mayo. Video at link: https://youtu.be/T7WmS-JpqQg

On Friday, around 11:00 p.m., Milwaukee police officers shot several armed male suspects in two simultaneous shootings in the Southside of Milwaukee, a 22-year-old armed male suspect who fired a handgun was shot by a police officer at the 1200 block of S. 15th Place near W. Scott Street and a 17-year-old Black armed male suspect who also fired a handgun was also shot by a police officer at the 1200 block of S. César. Chávez Drive near W. Scott St. Both suspects failed to drop their handguns when ordered by police. Police recovered the suspect's handguns at each incident. The suspects are expected to survive from their injuries and are expected to face criminal charges for discharging firearms. Videos of shooting at link: https://tinyurl.com/4be7pdmz

MPD around 9:00 p.m. on Friday closed S. Chávez Drive and prevented traffic from traveling either North and South.

I guess the Southside MPD command and its police officers from Police District 2 Station failed to notice on early Saturday and during the day that no one was out engaging in any 5 de Mayo flag waving impromptu parading and that most who were actually celebrating the 5 de Mayo on Saturday were at the UMOS Center on S. Chase Ave., which no incidents were reported by police at the one-day festival and a few police SUV's units from Milwaukee Police District 6 Station were on duty until the event closed at 8:00 p.m.

In brief: More than 20,000 vehicles drive through Chavez Dr. a day and more than 147,000 per week during the year.

A 2006 city economic study reported that the Southside households in the predominately Latino community located inside Postal Zip Code 53204 in Milwaukee spent more than $91 million annually in retail goods, according to the Department of City Development statistics. In one day, they spent approximately $249,315.06. The biggest tax-generating base for the city comes solely from the Southside compared to other districts.

In Milwaukee, over 850 Hispanic owned businesses generate more than $225 million in annual sales.


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